France was one of the first customers of the P-40, placing an order of 100 Hawk 81A-1, later increased to 230 aircraft. However, these aircraft were not delivered before France fell in June 1940 and these aircraft never entered French service. After the invasion of North Africa in late 1942, the groupe de Chasse II/5,…Continue reading The Curtiss P-40 in French service
This P-40M-5-CU is operated by Comanche Fighters LLC in the US. This P-40M-10-CU (s/n 43-5813) is flown and operated by the Tri-State Warbird Museum and carries the colours of NZ3119 of No 2 OTU of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1943.
This week’s updates are dedicated to surviving examples of the beautiful Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. I’ve always liked the P-40 and thought of it as the “American Hurricane”: it did not have the glamour and fame of other, better-known fighters but was a sturdy and dependable aircraft which served in all Allied air forces throughout the…Continue reading Curtiss P-40 Warhawk warbirds
Roy Whittaker was the 57th Fighter Group’s top ace, earning 7 victories at the controls of the P-40. This P-40F was one of two aircraft he flew with the group. His most successful combat mission took place during the “Palm Sunday Massacre” on 18 April 1943, when the 57th FG stumbled upon over 100 German…Continue reading Roy Whittaker’s P-40F “Miss Fury”
With 28.5 aerial victories in over 300 operational sorties, Group Captain Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC & Bar (28 July 1911 – 5 August 1994) was the leading Australian air ace of World War II. His score also included six probable victories and 15 damaged enemy aircraft. He was the highest-scoring Tomahawk ace, as…Continue reading The aircraft of Australian ace Clive Caldwell
This Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk II was flown by Squadron Leader Brian Alexander Eaton of the Royal Australian Air Force’s No 3 Squadron, which flew from Cutella airbase in Italy in January 1944. This profile is one of 5 Kittyhawk profiles created for the book “Squadrons! No.18 – The Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk II” by Phil H. Listemann.
It is with great pride and honour that I would like to introduce my partnership with maxFlite. The concept behind maxFlite’s product is quite simple: we all have fond childhood memories of playing with small foam gliders with propellers. In most cases, these gliders were as much fun as they were flimsy and unrealistic. MaxFlite…Continue reading Fly it for Christmas !
The P-40 was an evolution of Curtiss’ P-36 Hawk. Despite its limited performance, it was used throughout the war, on all fronts. 1. The P-40 became the USAAC’s standard fighter shortly before the war. This early P-40 belonged to the 55th Pursuit Squadron of the 20th Pursuit Group, based at Hamilton Field. Note the long…Continue reading Curtiss P-40 Warhawk